Musical instrument containing integral tape player



United States Patent Inventor Johnny Desmond 85 Chapel Road, Manhasset, New York H030 Appl. No. 662,378

Filed Aug. 22, 1967 Patented Aug. 18, I970 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CONTAINING INTEGRAL TAPE PLAYER 2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 84/267, 46/l 75, 84/329 Int. Cl 610d 1/08, GlOd l5/0O Field of Search 46/ l 75;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,297,585 3/1919 Newman Primary Examiner- Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner- Lawrence R. Franklin At!0rney Daniel P. Chernoff ABSTRACT: A guitar containing a battery-operated magnetic tape player carried in a compartment formed in the sound box portion of the instrument with the audio transducer of the apparatus being in acoustical relationship therewith. The pre-recorded tapes may contain speech or music for playback through the device.

Paten ted Aug. 18, 1970 Sheet l of2 Pate nted Aug. 18, 1970 3,524,311

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CONTAINING INTEGRAL TAPE PLAYER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a guitar, or other stringed musical instrument of the same general type, containing an integral tape player apparatus. The invention finds useful application as a toy item for the entertainment and amusement ofchildren.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the illustrative embodiment of the invention a batteryoperated magnetic tape player mounted on the body of the instrument is provided for reproducing recorded speech or music, utilizing the sound box of the guitar as a natural 7 mechanical amplifier for the generated sound.

The foregoing, and other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring initially to FIGS. l-3 of the drawings, there is shown a stringed musical instrument It) in the form ofa guitar of ordinary design outfitted with a concealed transistorized battery-operated magnetic tape player 25 of any suitable known design, carried in a compartment 26 in the upper portion of the guitar sound box l2. A door 31 on the front face of the instrument provides access for changing reels, maintenance and repair of the tape player 25. The operation of the tape player is controlled by an on-off volume control knob 29 mounted on the door 3|. Since the sound box [2 of the guitar forms a natural mechanical amplifier for sound waves, an acoustic transducer or speaker 27 of greatly reduced size can be utilized with the tape player 25. In this version, with a tape player forming an integral part of the musical instrument I0, it is contemplated that various pre-recorded tapes carrying, for example, teaching instructions on how to play a guitar, playaction dialogue, or music, would be used in conjunction with the instrument.

I claim:

1. The combination comprising a musical stringed instrument of the type having a sound box portion such as a guitar, a concealed compartment formed in the sound box portion of the instrument, and a battery-operated magnetic tape sound reproducing apparatus contained in said compartment, with the audio transducer of said apparatus being in acoustical relationship with said sound box portion, thereby providing natural mechanical amplification for the audio signals generated by said sound reproducing apparatus.

2. The combination as set forth in Claim 1 further including a tape for said sound reproducing apparatus having recorded thereon audio information in the form of teaching instructions for learning how to play said instrument. 

